Cootie Catcher - Is Your Food Safe?

I came across this article "10 dangerous but common food safety mistakes" on CBSNEWS.com and I did not decide to blog about it because it was "interesting", but because I said DAG I do some of this stuff! God really looks out for me...

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1. Tasting food to see if it's still good.

Ok I don't do this one, I'm too scared! If it's past its expiration date or looks/smells funny, it's going in the trash!

2. Thawing food on the counter.

...GUILTY! Apparently this isn't the right thing to do and USUALLY I will put it in a bowl of cold water, but I will say I have left my frozen meat on the counter to thaw a few times. Oopsy, won't do it again!

3. Letting food cool before putting it in the fridge.

Shootin' me! I do this ALL the time. I honestly thought you shouldn't put hot food directly in the fridge. The article says "illness-causing" bacteria can grow within two hours unless you refridgerate it or within one hour if the temperature is over 90 degrees.

4.Marinating meat or seafood on the counter.

This I can say I don't do either, I will marinate my meat in a container with a closed lid and put it in the fridge. Leaving it out at room temp will cause germs to muliply rapidly.

5. Using raw meat marinade on cooked food.

Ok...who does this? If you do, please keep it to yourself. I think that is just nasty. I don't want juices from RAW meat on my cooked food. You don't even have to tell me not to do this one.

6.Eating raw cookie dough (or other foods with uncooked eggs).

SEE! I am always telling people not to do this! Like people who eat the cake batter out the bowl when there was egg in there. The sad part is, I bet more people DO this than those who don't. All I know is, you won't be catching me doing this one.

7. Putting cooked meat back on a plate that held raw meat.

Um def don't do this and not sure what else I need to say...that's just gross.

8. Washing meat or poultry.

Well ok...I do this a lot and once again thought I was doing the right thing. Guess I should stop? The article says you are spreading bacteria to your sink, countertops, and other surfaces and that there is no need to wash your meat, just cook it. I GUESS I can see that, if you cook it thoroughly, it should kill anything you are trying to wash off.

9. Undercooking meat, poultry, seafood, or eggs.

Ok so I used to be 100% on this. If it wasn't dead 11 times over, I didn't want it. BUT lately I have been ordering my steaks medium well. I just got tired of getting well-done and it comes out DRY and nasty! Medium well isn't bleeeeeding soooo I feel less guilty eating it. I guess I just need to continue to pray over my food because I don't want dry steak.

10. Not washing your hands.

I ALWAYS do this. I even tear off a paper-towel before I start handling raw meat so that I can use it to turn the faucet on. I totally believe in washing hands in between each step if you need to touch other stuff. Usually, I try to set it up where I can just use ONE hand to touch the raw meat and the other to do things like pick up the seasoning and other utensils.

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Ok so my Cootie Catcher score is 4 out of 10; 3.5 if you count my medium-well steak as being semi-ok! Not bad if I say so myself, and I am saying so. I wonder what other things I do that are unsafe...guess I will research and let you all know when I find out!

What's YOUR Cootie Catcher Score?

Click here to read the full article:

http://www.cbsnews.com/2300-204_162-10008597.html?tag=page